2. speakers
  3. 126407-33997

Surround speaker upgrade

Hi Guys

I recently upgraded my home theater. I had an all Focal system.  Now I have Wilson Audio Sophia fronts a Wilson  Audio Watch center and 2 JL audio subs and Focal Cobalt surrounds.  The weak link in my system is the focal surrounds.  So I would like to upgrade them..  My room is about  13x20.  I guess the ideal would be to find a used pair of Wilson watch surrounds ? (Easier to say than to do, finding them are not so easy, thought I had found a pair but were sold out from under me)

I am not totally sold on the Wilson surrounds or should I be.  There are dipole, bipole,  front firing etc etc  Do not really know the advantages of different types of surrounds (or explain why I should not use front firing speakers for surrounds)  Can any one give suggestions as to good quality surround speaker that would fit my system   Would like to keep the cost in the $1500 to $3000 used range if possible.

Thanks for all and any input

Norm L


norml4721

Showing 4 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
16,591 posts
 
I should also point out that manufacturers have a vested interest in di/bi-polar surrounds. Having twice the drivers they often cost twice as much. Fortunately most buyers felt they were gimmicky too and most of these have gone the way of "smell-o-vision."

For a real high-end HT experience with seating for at least 20 I’d recommend going closer to the auditorium, and using 1 pair of mono-pole (i.e. normal) surrounds per side if space allowed.

Best,


Erik
erik_squires
16,591 posts
 
Hi Norm,

The whole bi/dipole thing was a gimmick to try to make up for the differences in a living room compared to a theater. In a theater you usually have 1 pair of surrounds per side, plus rear surrounds. Also, in a theater surround speakers are usually at least 10’ away from the listeners, allowing for a wide coverage area.

I’ve found in modest living rooms 1 monopole (i.e. normal) speaker per side is just fine, if well matched. Fortunately, most HT processors these days include the ability to match speaker’s tonally.

Do you really hear deficiency’s in the Focal’s or are you just trying to match the quality of your system? Not that I'm a Focal fanboy, just wondering what it is you are missing.

Best,

ERik

erik_squires
16,591 posts
 
I am not going to suggest you upgrade to other Focals, that’s for sure. :)

How are you configuring the surrounds though? I only have really 2 full range speakers, and the rest are satellites, but I can cross them over fairly well at 80 Hz.

My mains are ported and only go down to around 40 Hz. I do like to run them full range, I think it makes a small difference, but rarely in movies like Pirates of the Carribean they can get over excited. With the woofer well integrated though, I can run my 5 speakers as satellites and it’s pretty awesome.  With a 6.5" woofer, I can only go so far.  For music  I never need more.

The rest of my speakers use 5.25" woofers though, so when I do movies I have to set the crossover the the highest common denominator, which is around 80 Hz.

Best,

Erik


erik_squires
16,591 posts
 
Hey,

So different pro's have different capabilities. Some let you set the crossover point differently for different speakers, some do not.

That's fine.  Yes, processors MUST let you set distance and volume independently. The power difference isn't really an issue here. Usually the limiting factor is excursion of the surrounds. They tend to be the smallest, so you are forced to choose between dynamic range and low crossover point.

Make sure your surrounds and center are set to "small" but leave your L and R as "large" and make sure  you set the frequency a little higher, I'd go with 80 Hz or maybe up to 100.

This should give you a lot more dynamic range with them.

Best,

Erik
More to discover